Conventionally, LCDs, which have been widely used for displays of cellular phones, game machines, audio players, and the like are known in the art. LCDs are formed by bonding a rectangular TFT substrate and a rectangular counter substrate positioned so as to face the TFT substrate, with a liquid crystal layer, sealed by a rectangular frame-shaped sealing member, being interposed therebetween.
Electrode layers are respectively formed on the TFT substrate and the counter substrate so as to face each other, and these electrode layers are electrically connected to a terminal portion, which is formed along one side of the TFT substrate. As a method of connecting the electrode layer of the counter substrate (hereinafter referred to as the “counter electrode layer”) to the terminal portion, it is known to connect the counter electrode layer to the terminal portion through conductive particles dispersed in the sealing member, and a common transfer terminal portion (see Patent Document 1).
The structure of a conventional LCD 100 will be briefly described below with reference to FIG. 20. FIG. 20 is a schematic plan view of the conventional LCD 100. Note that a counter substrate is not shown in FIG. 20.
As shown in FIG. 20, the LCD 100 has a display portion 101 formed by a plurality of pixels. In the display portion 101, electrode layers are formed on a TFT substrate 102 and a counter substrate facing the TFT substrate 102, so as to face each other with a liquid crystal layer interposed therebetween. The reference numeral “103” in FIG. 20 indicates the electrode layer on the TFT substrate 102. These electrode layers on both substrates are electrically connected to a terminal portion 104, which is formed along one side of the TFT substrate 102, and is exposed to the outside from the counter substrate.
The electrode layer 103 on the TFT substrate 102 is connected to a source driver portion 105 and a gate driver portion 106, which are positioned outside the display portion 101, and is electrically connected to the terminal portion 104 through extended interconnect layers (not shown) which are extended from the driver portions 105, 106. The term “outside” as used herein indicates the direction from the middle of the LCD 100 toward the outer edge thereof. Although not shown in the figure, the driver portions 105, 106 are connected to each other by a plurality (e.g., several tens) of interconnect layers, such as clock signal interconnect layers. Interconnect layers, such as the extended interconnect layers and the clock signal interconnect layers, are formed at the four corners inside a sealing member 107 in the TFT substrate 102.
On the other hand, the electrode layer on the counter substrate (the counter electrode layer) is connected to common transfer terminal portions 108 through conductive particles contained in the rectangular sealing member 107, and the common transfer terminal portions 108 are connected to the terminal portion 104 through interconnect layers (not shown). That is, the counter electrode layer is connected to the terminal portion 104 through the conductive particles in the sealing member 107, the common transfer terminal portions 108, and the interconnect layers. The sealing member 107, the common transfer terminal portions 108, and the interconnect layers are formed outside the display portion 101.
The sealing member 107 is positioned inside, and spaced apart from, the outer edge of the TFT substrate 102. The common transfer terminal portions 108 are formed so that at least a part of each common transfer terminal portion 108 is in contact with the sealing member 107, in order to connect to the counter electrode layer through the conductive particles. The common transfer terminal portions 108 are typically positioned at the four corners of the sealing member 107 in order to reduce a non-uniform distribution of the potential difference in the counter electrode layer. Thus, the LCD 100 applies a voltage to the liquid crystal layer from the electrode layers of both substrates, which are connected to the terminal portion 104, thereby controlling orientation of liquid crystal molecules to provide desired display in the display portion 101.
Moreover, regarding manufacturing of the above LCD, it is generally known to cut a bonded substrate base material, which includes a plurality of bonded substrate regions arranged in a matrix pattern, into a plurality of bonded substrates in order to improve productivity.
The bonded substrate base material is formed by bonding a TFT substrate base material, which includes a plurality of regions forming a TFT substrate (hereinafter referred to as the “TFT substrate regions”), and a counter substrate base material, which includes a plurality of regions forming a counter substrate (hereinafter referred to as the “counter substrate regions”), together so that each TFT substrate region and each counter substrate region face each other with a corresponding rectangular frame-shaped sealing member interposed therebetween.
The sealing member is supplied at a high speed and with a relatively small width to each TFT substrate region or each counter substrate region in the TFT substrate base material or the counter substrate base material by a dispenser or the like, so that the sealing member overlaps a common transfer terminal portion when viewed from a direction normal to the surface of the bonded substrate. Thus, the bonded substrate base material has a plurality of bonded substrate regions formed by bonding the TFT substrate regions and the counter substrate regions together with the respective sealing members interposed therebetween. The bonded substrate base material is then cut along the gaps formed between the sealing members of the bonded substrate regions, thereby forming a plurality of bonded substrates.